


Broken Pieces Floating By

by mneiai



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Don't Like Don't Read, F/F, F/M, Haunting, Horror, M/M, Multi, Name Changes, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 20:30:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mneiai/pseuds/mneiai
Summary: After one night in a haunted building, all Ana wants to do is sleep...but every time she falls asleep her dreams take her closer to a horror she can't name.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, someone gave me a drabble prompt for an Elia/Lyanna modern setting reincarnation AU and...for some reason my mind went here lol
> 
> Title is from "Broken" by lovelytheband because I'm shit at titles and I like that line.
> 
> I don't know what the update schedule will be like on this, probably pretty intermittent.

Ever since they'd entered the building, Ana's felt like there was someone watching her. She knew it was probably just her imagination getting away from her, but she couldn't help it. She'd never been good with haunted places, no matter how much her friends adored them.

Still, it had been Barb's idea to split up and her idiot brother couldn't say 'no' to her, and now here she was, wandering through a rotting, abandoned building, hoping the floor didn't give out under her.

She could have stayed in the foyer, she knew, that had been her plan, but...then she could have sworn she'd heard one of the others calling for her. As much as it would be their own faults if they got hurt, she wasn't about to just abandon them.

Instead there was no one--up two staircases, down who knew how many halls, following a voice that was apparently her imagination, until she had no idea where she was.

A scraping noise came from the other side of the hall and she jerked around, the beam of her flashlight bouncing off the walls and landing on a door. It was big, and like the rest of the place looked like it had been fancy, once.

Not knowing why, she just _knew_ she wanted to see what was inside of it. Her steps were measured, careful, and she kept swinging her flashlight around, just in case one of the others thought they were going to get the drop on her.

The door handle felt oddly warm to the touch, like someone else had been holding onto it before her, but she dismissed that notion. She had to stop watching Benny's horror movies.

"Ana?!"

She jerked away from the door, hand releasing halfway through turning the handle. There was Maggie, at the end of the hall, frowning at her in concern.

"I thought you were staying by the entrance, we've been looking for you for ages. Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"What are you talking about? It's been ten, fifteen minutes tops."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and...it hadn't been. It had been two hours since the last time she looked at the screen and there were a few dozen texts and some missed calls from the others.

"I...sorry...I must not have noticed."

Her friend continued frowning at her, but waved her on. "Let's go, Brandon and Barbara are probably already making out in the car and I don't want to smell whatever they get up to."

"Ew, Maggie! That's my brother!"

***

Ana had thought sleep would be hard to find that night, with the creepy house still on her mind, but nearly as soon as her head hit the pillow she was out.

Her dreams were wisps of images, ideas, nothing concrete, nothing that she could remember in the morning. But somehow she knew, every morning she woke up after, remember a little more, and that they were all related, somehow.

And even though she was getting a full night's sleep, she still felt _exhausted_. So much so she found herself going to sleep earlier and earlier as she got home. Only Benny noticed and he asked her if she was sick. She shrugged, figuring it was probably true, and continued up to her room.

The more she slept, the clearer her dreams became. This night, like many before, she was in a huge marble room, filled with gilded decorations and a crowd of people, all of them dressed like they were at some costume masquerade. At first she thought she was standing alone, but when she got her bearings, she realized that her arm was looped through another's.

"Lya, stop daydreaming," a melodic voice ordered gently.

It was a woman, a beautiful, willowy woman she'd seen before. "I...I'm sorry?"

The woman smiled, leaning against her. "I know you are, but it wasn't your fault." For some reason it felt like the woman wasn't talking about her being distracted, anymore. "Now come on, haven't you kept us waiting long enough?"

"Us?"

If the woman heard her, she paid no attention to the question. Soon they were moving and the crowd was parting for them, bowing as they walked by. Ana almost tripped over her feet at that and it was only then she realized she was dressed like all of them, in a gown that probably cost more than Brandon’s car.

When they stopped, it was before a throne--a huge, barbaric looking thing of metal and spikes. Behind it there was a window with some sort of stained glass art, but the light was shining so bright all Ana could see was red, the red that encompassed her and the woman like a spotlight.

There was something...something about this....

She looked around again, and everyone was staring. Their faces were cold, and their eyes....

Ana gasped, pulling her arm out of the woman's, whipping around as she looked for an escape.

"Lya, what are you up to, now?"

A shadowed figure on the throne shifted, for a moment it looked both humanoid and _not at all_, and then another voice called to her from the depths of it, "Lyanna."

She woke up, covered in sweat, panting. Her door slammed open and she jolted out of the bed, tripping over the blankets twisted around her legs.

"Ana! What is it?" Benny was there, wrapping his arms around her, but all she could do was clutch at him.

***

"It's not _actually_ haunted," Brandon insisted, scoffing at the group.

"Or maybe you're so dull no ghost would be interested in you?" Maggie shot back, hands on her hips, looking more intimidating than anyone else in the room.

Ana shook her head, rubbing at her dry eyes. She hadn't gone back to sleep after that dream, she didn't know why but she knew something _really bad_ would happen if she did. But there was only so much Red Bull a person could take before they collapsed.

"It was called the Red Keep," Barb began, paying attention to the iPad, books, and articles in front of her and ignoring her boyfriend and Ana's best friend having yet another spat. "The second-to-last royal family lived there, the Targaryens, the one before the Baratheons. When, uh, when the Baratheons took over they...murdered them all. Even the little kids."

"So what? That must have been a thousand years ago!"

Barb rolled her eyes and tossed an empty Diet Coke bottle at him. "I know I'm good, but stop acting like I can suck your brains out. If it's _haunted_ it's not going to care about _time_."

"Wait, Ana, didn't you say you only thought a few minutes went by, in that place?" Maggie waved at her to get her attention.

She blinked, then nodded. "Yeah, I knew I had gone a distance, but...it didn't really feel like it."

"So, that's something to put down, right? That time can move weirdly in there."

"Oh, come on! My sister is not being haunted!"

"How would you know? You're never around!"

"Benny, it's okay, stop it. The last thing I need is you two fighting."

Her little brother quickly sobered, though he still glared at Brandon. He, more than anyone, had been upset when their two older siblings had moved out, leaving them all-but alone to raise themselves, considering how nurturing their father was.

Clearing her throat, Barb started to speak again. "The Baratheons only stayed there for two generations--rumor has it _they were being haunted_ by the dead Targaryens. The first and second Baratheon kings both died in mysterious ways after what could be described as ever increasing signs of psychosis. Some of their relatives also experienced it. They moved right after the death of the second king and abandoned the place completely."

"But I'm not a--clearly we're not, like, descended from the Baratheons or something."

"And if any of this _is_ true," Brandon put in, finally deciding to actually participate, "and Ana was, then so am I. And nothing bothered me in there."

"It wasn't _only_ people with Baratheon blood experiencing this. And we don't know if there's _something else_ that could be causing it. It’s not like historians were keen on documenting this shit."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, maybe Ana's a reincarnated princess or something. Could you imagine it? You in dresses having to act all proper and get called ‘m’lady’ all the time."

Ana shoved him, hard enough to almost knock him from his seat. "Fuck off, Brandon. This is serious. You don't...if you'd been there...you'd know that it wasn't just some silly ghost story." She felt dampness building in her eyes and ducked her head. "Please, _I'm scared_."

"Ana...." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. "Why don't I go check this place out without you, okay? I'll take a few guys from the team and we'll search the building. Since it's only affecting you, we should be fine, and maybe we'll...I don't know, find some cursed doll we can burn or something."

She snorted, but still nodded. "Yeah, that would be...great. Thanks."

But for some reason, as soon as she agreed, she wished she could take it back.


	2. Chapter 2

Ana spent the entire next evening staring at her phone, waiting for a text, or call, or _something_ from Brandon. 

“They probably went to a bar, instead, and got wasted,” Benny said sometimes around 10pm, clearly having given up on their eldest brother.

“No, he said he’d do this and Brandon always follows through on stuff. He went there, with others. Maybe it’s just taking him awhile to look around. Or...or maybe they got so scared they’re huddling in a pile in his car crying.”

They both chuckled at that idea, knowing the sorts of guys Brandon hung out with.

But, still, the call never came.

When Ana finally fell asleep, in the early morning hours, she found herself in the ballroom once more. The woman was there, smiling brilliantly, seeming to light up the room with her joy like a small sun.

“We didn’t think you’d be so serious, Lya, I’m so happy you are.”

“Serious?” She blinked, trying to figure out what the woman might be talking about.

“About the betrothal!” She leaned in, giving Ana a quick peck on the lips, seemingly not noticing the way that made her blush. “To send your eldest brother to us to negotiate already! We thought it might take more time.”

Ana frowned, swaying. She felt so out of sorts, but not really in a bad way. This whole thing, she knew it was a dream, and she felt half-asleep, but there was just something about it. Not the woman, the woman was her anchor here, her touch keeping Ana grounded and lucid.

“Betrothal?”

The woman laughed, changing her grip on Ana, now leading her in a dance that Ana somehow knew. “Oh, yes. He wasn’t too happy to let his little sister go, but you’re a woman grown and marriage is inevitable.” 

“...I’m seventeen.”

“Exactly! Surely we’ve waited long enough for you, Lya. It’s been so many years since we met.”

“How...how did we meet?”

“You always did love hearing me gush about you.” The woman rolled her eyes playfully, twirling Ana around. “It was at the tourney for Lord Whent’s daughter. You were such a lovely little thing, in your plain grey dresses and wild eyes. I wanted you as soon as I saw you, I just knew you’d be something. But then, my sweet knight, you had to go and _impress_ us.”

Ana could almost remember it, even though she knew she shouldn’t. A horse under her thighs, the press of metal digging into her skin, ill-fitted. An unwieldy weight in her hands.

She shuddered, pulling away from the woman, pressing a hand to her eyes as for a moment she saw an outside space, bleachers and a screaming crowd overlaying the ballroom. The dizziness was worse than ever.

“Lya? Honey? What’s the matter?”

The woman’s hands on her were warm and comforting. And then there was a second pair, settling on her shoulders from behind. Hot and cold. Hard and soft. Her skin couldn’t seem to be able to decide.

“Lyanna, be calm.”

“When has that ever actually made her, or anyone, calmer?” 

The woman’s ease at countering this new figure made Ana relax. She turned, getting just the briefest glimpse of his face.

Ana woke up screaming.

Benny was on her in a second--he’d slept in her room, curled up on an old sleeping bag. They’d both been waiting, still, for Brandon to text or call.

“What is it? Ana?”

“I--it’s just.” She took deep, unsteady breaths. “...I can’t remember. Just that it was...it was something awful.”

They both jumped as her alarm went off. “Fuck, do we really have to go to school?”

She wrinkled her nose, knowing she should set a good example for her brother, but….

“I’ll call the school and say we’ve got the flu. They don’t want us dragging that in. And that way we’ll be able to stay with our phones all day, for whenever our useless brother decides to let us know what he got up to last night.”

Except Brandon didn’t. It was Barb, early in the afternoon, who started texting them instead. Brandon hadn’t come home the night before.

They met at Barb’s apartment, Ana and Benny heading over right away and the others trickling in after school. Ana wished she’d pretended that she’d been in school, because spending two hours handing Barb tissues and trying to get her to calm down hadn’t helped her head any.

“He went into that building, he went into it and it took him!” Barb insisted.

Maggie grimaced. “He probably got drunk and is still sleeping it off with his buddies.”

Ana remembered music, and dancing, and the woman of her dreams saying that she’d met Brandon. 

“Maybe...maybe we should check out the building again. Just to make sure.”

“_No_.” Benny grabbed Ana’s arm, glaring. “No way are you going back there.”

“We can drive by,” Maggie offered, “and see if his car is there.”

The drive over was awkward, all of them sitting in the quiet of Maggie’s Subaru. When the got to the building--Red Keep, Ana remembered it had once been called--there were three parked vehicles outside, including Brandon’s pickup.

“Fuck, fuck, he’s still there.” Barb looked desperately between all of them. “We had to go in after him.”

“We’ll stay in a group, holding each other’s hands.” Maggie parked carefully and dug out a flashlight. “That means, no matter what you see, you don’t run unless we’re all running.”

They nodded in agreement.

The building was exactly as it had been before, dusty, desolate. Quiet. Their footsteps echoed against the high ceilings as they worked their way from room to room, Barb having pulled up a basic map on her iPad and Maggie systematically working their way through it.

It was Ana who pulled them off course, swearing that she could hear something just down one of the other hallways. It almost sounded like music.

In the hallway where Maggie had found her, there was a pile settled just in front of a door. Maggie squeezed Ana’s hand, tightly, before shining the light directly on it, all of them ready for it to be a body.

It wasn’t.

And it was.

They all started running back towards the door, screaming. Ana thought her throat would be raw for days, detached from her body and the horror it was experiencing.

When they got outside, they all huddled in the backseat of Maggie’s car, Barb hitting the emergency call button on her phone to get the cops.

There hadn’t been one body in that pile in the building. There had been parts of many. And four heads with holes where their eyes had once been, staring at them. 

Ana could still see them, whenever she closed her eyes. As clear as a picture.

None of them were Brandon's.


	3. Writer Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not a new chapter, but relevant to any potential future updates

Hi all!

So this is not a new chapter (as shown by the title of this), but instead a bit of an update. If you're subscribed to one of my other fics and get an update with the same chapter title, this is just the same exact thing copy and pasted to save time for all of us.

I'm back (obviously), but have very little motivation to do anything, really (yay being stuck at home for like two months). I'm trying to get back into writing my fics, but my muse is a fickle thing lol

I've reread all of them and some of them (Potentiality, Red Ruins) could technically end where they are, so I may do that and start a "part 2" sort of deal with them both when/if I write the next parts.

Trinity is nearly over, so I'm trying to get out chapters for that, as well. I have a semi detailed outline for Broken Pieces... so I may post that up (with spoiler warnings) for anyone to read, if I don't update soon.

Beyond those steps, I'm mostly going with what I feel like writing at a given moment.

But just to see what still has any interest, I've made up a super short survey of which fics people would like to see updated. No personal info is collected, you just select the fics and leave an optional comment if you want: [The survey](https://forms.gle/nqHZd6LK6rDRGSjd6).

If there's a fic you really, really want updated, filling out the survey and leaving a comment here to help me get motivated is a good idea 😉


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